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Kentucky authorities release names of 2 killed in high school shooting

The suspect, a 15-year-old student, was apprehended at the scene

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Updated: 7:11 PM PST Jan 23, 2018

Kentucky authorities release names of 2 killed in high school shooting

The suspect, a 15-year-old student, was apprehended at the scene

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Updated: 7:11 PM PST Jan 23, 2018

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Kentucky authorities release names of 2 killed in high school shooting

The suspect, a 15-year-old student, was apprehended at the scene

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Updated: 7:11 PM PST Jan 23, 2018

The names of the two people killed during a high school shooting in Marshall County, Kentucky were released Tuesday evening.

A total of 20 people were injured, two were killed, in the shooting.

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According to the Marshal County authorities, Bailey Holt, 15, and Preston Cope, 15, died as a result of injuries sustained after a 15-year-old male walked into the school with a pistol and started firing.

The suspected shooter is a student at Marshall County High School and was apprehended at the scene. He will be charged with two counts of murder and several counts of attempted murder.

Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin said there is no reason to suspect anyone else in an act of violence that rocked the small town of Benton.

“This is a wound that is going to take a long time to heal,” Bevin said.

Fifteen people, including the two killed, were wounded in the gunfire, which began just before 9 a.m. ET as the suspect entered the school with a handgun and began shooting.

First responders were there in under 10 minutes.

As of Tuesday evening, the Kentucky State Police said that 14 victims were male and 6 were female. Three are still in critical condition and a fourth is in stable condition

Dominico Caporali via AP

Police escort a person, second from right, out of the Marshall County High School after shooting there, Tuesday, Jan 23, 2018, in Benton, Ky.

The identity of the suspect has not been released and officials said it is not known if he would be charged as an adult.

Students poured out of the school seeking safety, said Mitchell Garland, who rushed outside of his business when he heard about the shooting.

“They was running and crying and screaming,” he told The Associated Press. “They was just kids running down the highway. They were trying to get out of there.”

The scene after a fatal shooting at Marshall County High School in Benton, Ky., on Jan. 23, 2018.

Cars packed roads near the school as parents searched for their children.

“Everyone is just scared. Just terrified for their kids,” said Garland, whose 16-year-old son jumped into someone's car to escape the school. “We’re a small town and we know a lot of the kids.”

The scene after a fatal shooting at Marshall County High School in Benton, Ky., on Jan. 23, 2018.

Bevin released a full statement late in the morning, expressing grief and warning people not to speculate on the circumstances of the shooting.

"This is a tremendous tragedy and speaks to the heartbreak present in our communities," he said. "It is unbelievable that this would happen in small, close-knit community like Marshall County. As there is still much unknown, I encourage people to love on each other at this time. Do not speculate, but come alongside each other in support and allow the facts to come out."

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, of Kentucky, spoke about the shooting in remarks on the Senate floor.

"I know I speak for communities across my home state in sending prayers of comfort and healing to students, faculty and everyone affected by this violence," he said.

Marshall County High School is about 30 minutes from Heath High School in Paducah, Ky., where a 1997 mass shooting killed three and injured five. Michael Carneal, then 14, opened fire there about two years before the fatal attack at Columbine High School in Colorado, ushering in an era when mass school shootings have become much more common.

Meanwhile, in the small North Texas town of Italy, a 15-year-old girl was recovering Tuesday after police said she was shot by a 16-year-old classmate in her high school cafeteria on Monday, sending dozens of students scrambling for safety.